The Rocky Mountains. Like other folded mountains the Rockies are also born out of sedimentation in a geosyncline and its upliftment. This sediment was deposited in the interior of North America. Folds were formed in the Rocky area at the time of the uplift but these were not formed so fast as in the Appalachians. The cause as is understood nowadays is that the forces producing' folds acted from the sides in the case of the Appalachians but the lateral force was much less in the case of the Rockies. The Rockies have been built mainly by the vertical forces. Hence the Rockies did not form folds with the intensity with which these were formed in the Appalachians. It is basically because of this factor that the layers in the Rockies are not much cracked and broken.
The core of the Rockies is composed of igneous and similar rocks. Due to the rise of granitic mass, the sedimentary layers broke and rolled down the sides of the granitic mass. It, therefore, gives a distinct view of granitic rocks in the core.
The Rockies were uplifted 60 million years ago in the Mesozoic era. Scholars think that the process of upliftment is still continuing. The mountain is in its youthful stage.
The Alps. These mountains are found to exist in the most civilized and progressive countries of Europe. Rail, road, bridges, etc., were constructed across the mountains. The construction work provided a great knowledge about the structure of the Alps. One very important fact about the Alps is that its structure in the east is very different from that in the west.
285 million years ago, Tethys geosyncline was born in Carboniferous period. Africa existed in the southern foreland. While Europe (Hercynian Europe) was in the northern foreland. After some time, the southern foreland began to move towards the north. This caused the sediment in the geosyncline along with its floor to scratch towards the north. As a result, two anticlines rose above the Tethys. It divided the Tethys into many parts lengthwise. The sediment of the southern continental platform of the Tethys was also compressed, folded and converted into nappe called the Austride Nappe. The scholars believe that the Austride nappe moving north covered the Helvetic and the Pennine nappes.
The formation of the Alps has taken place clearly by the compression, which Africa has produced by moving towards Europe. It created three nappes (the Helvetic, the Pennine and the Austride), which made the structure of the Alps very complicated. Argand thinks that the compression started in mid-carboniferous and did not end even by Miocene. The compression was at its highest in Tertiary and it was directed towards south. It created the Dinaric Alps.
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